> Number of black elected officials shows modest increase
>
> December 12, 2000
> Web posted at: 4:20 PM EST (2120 GMT)
>
>
> WASHINGTON (AP) -- The number of blacks elected to
> federal, state, and local offices nationwide edged up slightly in 1999,
> according to a study by a research organization that focuses on the
> concerns of black Americans and other minorities.
>
> The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies on
> Tuesday released its 1999 count of black elected officials. The report
> showed a gain of 68 positions to a total 8,936 nationwide between January
> 1998 and January 1999.
>
> The modest increase did not elevate the percentage of
> black elected officials among all elected officials. That figure remains
> at 1.7 percent.
>
> The center has been tracking the number since 1970, when
> blacks held 1,469 elected positions nationwide.
>
> As in 1998, the largest increase -- 153 offices --
> occurred among municipal posts. Black women accounted for the entire net
> increase because there were 73 more women elected and five fewer men. Black
> women now represent 33.5 percent of all black elected officials, according
> to the report. Membership in the Congressional Black Caucus remains at 39.
>
> The report said the states with the most black elected
> officials were Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Illinois and Georgia.
>
> The center is a nonprofit institution that conducts
> research on public policy issues of special concern to black Americans and
> other minorities.